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The Mercury reports that Pension Funds Adjudicator (PFA) Muvhango Lukhaimane has taken a firm stance against funds that withhold investigation reports under the guise of protecting personal information.
She has warned that the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) should not be used to conceal a less than thorough investigation. In a recent determination, Lukhaimane made it clear that funds were obligated to share information with the PFA when requested without needing consent from beneficiaries. “A fund cannot hide behind POPIA,” she said, adding that the PFA qualified as a public body and was “allowed to collect personal information when necessary for the conduct of proceedings”. The PFA was dealing with a complaint from the customary spouse of a deceased member of the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund. She was unhappy with the board's decision to award a large portion of the R560,160 death benefit to the deceased’s life partner. The fund initially refused to share its investigation report with PFA citing POPIA, but eventually complied. Lukhaimane ruled that the fund had failed to conduct a thorough investigation into the financial dependency of each beneficiary. “There is a duty on the fund to actively investigate the extent of each of the beneficiaries’ financial dependency on the deceased. The fund failed to follow the beneficiary nomination. There must be a valid reason for not honouring a nomination,” Lukhaimane stressed. Setting aside the board’s decision, Lukhaimane said she was not satisfied that all relevant factors: dependency, age, and the deceased’s wishes were adequately considered.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siphesihle Buthelezi at The Mercury
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